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I mentioned this, briefly, in a post the other day but didn’t fully understand how it “worked” so I didn’t bother with explaining it (because the last thing this world needs is another noob incorrectly explaining how things work to those who already know the right way, anyway).

Today, things are a bit different… and shinier.

So, the owner of our local bike shop, after having shot my bike frame with clear coat to seal in my name decals, recommended that I use Pledge Floor Care Multi-Surface Finish to brighten up the clear coat. The way I saw it, there were bigger problems than a floor shine product could fix so I went all out and bought an orbital buffer and went to town on my frame… There were still a few imperfections after I was done, though. Small imperfections that could only be seen if the light hit the bike at the right angle… so I tried the Pledge Floor Care Finish (It used to be called “Future” Floor Shine).

Folks, it turns out there’s more than one use for the floor polish beyond shining up floors… Model builders use it to dip their plastic “glass” pieces in so they actually look like glass, not just clear plastic. In fact, it’s common to air brush the stuff on model parts to make them shine… Add brighten bike frames to the list as well.

Now, there are plenty of instructions for how to use the stuff on the internet, but for our purposes in this post, I’m just going to deal with bike frames (for now – eventually I’m going to use the stuff to fix the finish on my old Ultegra derailleurs, but I’ll deal with that later).

First, start with a clean bike and frame.

Get a lint-free shop towel (that lint-free part is very important), wipe the floor polish on the frame wet, and let it dry. It’s self-leveling so it’ll fill minor imperfections in the paint and clear coat finish. Don’t over do it, either, you’re not putting a new clear coat on the bike. Too much and you’ll end up with runs and drips on the frame. Also, don’t over-massage the polish… wipe it on and let it dry – over-massage the polish and it’ll cloud up on you. Let it dry overnight, preferably in a dust-free environment.

To remove it after it dries, if you messed something up, use ammonia or Windex.

It’s simple as that!

One final note, it’s important to get the right stuff… In the US, this is what the bottle looks like:

The way I understand it, the product goes by a different name in the UK and the rest of Europe. The important thing to look for is the shiny wood floor and “2X MORE SHINE”.

2 Comments

I’ve often used furniture polish on my gloss-finish bike when I’m feeling lazy Comes up an absolute treat. Other times when I wash and wax my motorbike I’ll use a bit of the wax the road bike at the same time for a showroom polished finish (when I’m not feeling as lazy).